New Interpretation Board Celebrates"the Spirit of St George" 87 Years OnThe 10th July 2014 is a significant day for St George's Park because our interpretation board describing the social and natural history of the park in words and pictures was installed. The board traces the progress from the time St George's Park was given to the people of Kidderminster in 1927 by three former mayors and members of the carpet weaving aristocracy who helped to make Kidderminster a centre of the industry for more than two centuries. The board describes the projects that the Friends of St George's Park have undertaken since our formation in 2008 and it is the latest addition to the park organised and funded by the Friends group through fundraising efforts and appeals to our supporters. The board is a model of co-operation between the Friends of the park, Wyre Forest District Council, Kidderminster and District Lions and Kidderminster Civic Society who have pledged funds for the project. We are grateful to all who have supported the creation of this board that celebrates the achievements of FoSGP up to and including the launch of the People's Health Trust supported Let's Eat the Park [LEAP] project in June 2014. Not only is the park at the forefront of LEAP... FoSGP have also raised funds for and organised a spectacular opening event for Kidderminster Arts Festival on 9 August KidsFest14 a free community festival for all the family featuring top London based theatre company Kazzum's interactive performance of Nana's Jumble (See What's On Page for details).This is the second free community festival we have organised this year following our award winning St George's Family Fun Day annual event back in April. FoSGP is a resident led, community based constituted organisation run entirely by volunteers who either live in the area or have a special interest in the park.When it was originally donated "in the spirit of St George of England" the park's green spaces and recreational facilities would it was hoped feed the spirit of the people of the Horsefair and beyond across the whole district. As the history of the park now shows this sustaining vision of the donors has been further extended to include feeding the bodies of residents and visitors free of charge... as well as their minds through the provision of fruit trees and bushes, an increasing variety of edible plants appearing in the park as a result of the partnership between the Friends group, the Parks Department and various other collaborators and supporters of St George's Park Let's Eat the Park initiative.The interpretation board is a monument to these local efforts to make the park a valuable urban green space for all the community to enjoy and for all the wildlife that live there or visit the park, adding to the diversity of the environment and a general enrichment of the area with a green space we can all be truly proud of. If you are interested in getting involved in any of our ongoing projects please contact Friends of St George's Park here fosgpark@yahoo.co.uk- or throught the comment boxes here on our website or at the LEAP blog page http://leapstgeorges.blogspot.co.uk/

2013 has been a year to remember for the Friends of St George's Park. In April our fourth annual St George's Day family event was a great success, attracting a lot of visitors to the park and winning the award for Best Community Event in Wyre Forest 2013. Throughout the year there have been a number of FoSGP work parties when the Friends group have come together to weed and tidy up the park. This is in addition to the litter picks and general tidying that goes on in the park all year round. Last August we hosted the Kidderminster Arts Festival KAF13 Kids Fest which was the first time the annual arts festival had events outside the town centre in Horsefair. FoSGP is already signed up for putting on events as a partner of Wyre Forest District Council during KAF 14 in August, watch the Latest News section of this website for updates on this year's KAF in the park.

In 2013 St George's Park like most other parks in the area applied for and received Queen Elizabeth II 'Fields in Trust' status. During 2012, Fields in Trust ran their flagship programme The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge. This aimed to protect outdoor recreational spaces across the UK to create a grassroots legacy from the momentous events of 2012: the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Due to the efforts of most of Kidderminster parks friends of groups St George's Park like our sister parks Broadwaters, Springfield and Baxter Gardens, now enjoys the protections of being a registered QEII Field for the benefit of all of Kidderminster's residents and visitors now and in the future.We in FoSGP are looking forward to building upon these developments in 2014 and to make our park even more of a prized resource for all the people who live in the area and that also welcomes visitors coming to enjoy the park from elsewhere.

KAF13 Puts St George's Park on the Festival Map

Friends of St George's Park are pleased to announce another successful free event organised in the park on Saturday 10 August 2013. For the first time the Kidderminster Arts Festival has 'leaked out' of the town centre across the Ring Road and into St George's Park. Although the event took a little while to warm up when it got into full swing it was a great day for local families and visitors from beyond the Horsefair and even beyond Kidderminster. Around 50 people left the postcode of the area they are from on a chalkboard and while the majority were from the local DY10 area others were from such exotic and far flung locations as DY5 and WV1. It was good to know people had come to mingle on a lovely day in the park and to enjoy all the attractions from Handmade Theatre's "Flying Machine" to the free facepainting, paper pulp crafts, patches, peg looms, museum pieces and storytelling that made up the day, all with play areas with a paddling pool attached, a perfect family day out. Just across Radford Avenue at St George's church there were delicious cakes and refreshments available plus an arts exhibition of paintings, drawings and photographs, including the DY10 Big Local photography competition shortlisted entries. There were also circus skills at the church for anyone wanting to try their hand at tightrope walking for instance.Back in the park the Museum on the Move had Roman pots and tiles from the Middle Ages as well as a microscope where visitors could examine the patterns on a butterfly wing in minute detail as part of the 'Magic of Colour – the Science behind the Rainbow’ an exhibition which explores the colour spectrum including how animals use colour to attract or repel as a fun and educational event. For the Friends of the park and we hope for everyone else who visited... KAF13 will be a day to remember. It was the day that the Flying Machine which actually looked like a magic ship took children and adults on a journey of imagination to the four corners of the globe. It was a day when paper pulp cup cakes and monster masks were made in the park and when stories were told which resulted in six children and three adults joining the library....so for them the stories will go on and on for as long as they like.The Friends of St George's Park would like to thank everyone who made the KAF13 Kids Fest such a successful day, the peg loom weavers and pom pom makers, the facepainter, the members of the Kidderminster Lions who helped set up in the morning and pack up at the end, Wyre Forest District Council staff, the members of St George's churchand most of all those who came and enjoyed a great day out in the park and who made the whole thing worthwhile!

This Park was presented to the people of Kidderminster by.....

As reported recently in the Kidderminster Shuttle a local resident, Mr George Green, has spent the last six years tracking down the missing water fountain plaque. His hard work and effort paid off when, with the help of WFDC employees, he was able to find the missing plaque.George had been trying to locate the plaque since the park’s 75thanniversary because he felt it was vital that the younger generation understood why the park was created.George said, “If the plaque had not been found then part of history would have been lost forever”. WFDC arecurrently working with contractors to find out the best way to display the plaque so the local community can enjoy it. Spike, chair of FoSG said, “It’s great to read the exact text on the plaque andbegin to understand why the park was created. Thanks to George’s hard work the community can appreciate the heritage of our park. Our group would like to thank George for everything”.A replica has been fitted in the park and the original is on loan to the Carpet Museum.

Donor Families Return to St George's Park

As part of the Royal Visit by HRH The Duke of Kent on 29th March 2011 descendants of the original donors of the park returned to replicate the tree planting ceremonies that took place in 1927.

Family members of G.R Woodward, R.S Brinton & C.C Brinton all attended the park and replicated the tree planting 84 years after the original ceremonies took place.

We were really pleased that the families still want to be associated with the park and that they are keen to stay involved with the future developments.

St George's Park Photo History

Over the coming months we will be collecting pictures of the Park that show it through the decades. Do you have any pictures we could feature here? Or are you able to date any of our unknown pictures below? If so please get in touch

2000's

1990's

1980's

1970's

1960's

1950's

1940's

1930's

Unknown 2

Unknown 3

1920's

Unknown 1

Copyright

These pictures have been collected by members of the group and are included for interest purposes only and are not intended to breach any copyright. The low resoloution copies on this website are not intended to be reproduced in any way. If you own the copyright to any of the images included above and you are concerned please contact us and we will remove them, thanks.